Chichester Council Merger Paused, May 2027 Elections On

Chichester District Council has spent almost a year waiting to find out which new council it will be folded into. On 7 September the government stopped the clock, and gave no date for starting it again.

The Chichester council merger is on hold, and so is every other one in West Sussex. The plan would replace the county’s eight councils with a smaller number of unitary authorities. A decision had been expected this autumn. It is now part of a review with no published end date.

One thing did get settled, and it is the part that affects you directly. The Chichester District Council elections will go ahead in May 2027, on the existing ward boundaries. Until last week they were expected to be replaced by elections to a new authority that does not exist yet.

What was actually paused

Chichester was not waiting on one proposal. It was waiting to learn which of two very different councils it would become part of, and they point in opposite directions.

All eight West Sussex councils submitted a joint business case on 26 September 2025. As the district council’s own reorganisation page sets out, it contained two options:

• One unitary authority covering the whole of West Sussex. Supported by West Sussex County Council.
• Two unitary authorities, one covering Chichester, Arun, Worthing and Adur, the other covering Horsham, Mid Sussex and Crawley. Supported by every district and borough council in the county.

A decision was due by the end of March 2026. It did not come. Instead, on 25 March 2026, the government announced a second consultation with its own modification, and that modification moved Chichester to the other side of the county:

• Chichester into a unitary with Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex.
• A second West Sussex unitary of Arun, Adur and Worthing.

So the councils proposed a coastal authority running west to east along the Manhood Peninsula and the Sussex coast. The government proposed pairing Chichester with the inland towns and with Crawley, on the far side of the South Downs and next to Gatwick. That consultation on the modified proposals ran from 10am on 12 May 2026 to 11.59pm on 15 June 2026. Neither version has been chosen.

The letter

West Sussex leaders received their own letter, because West Sussex is in a different position from the four areas whose decisions were torn up.

Jim McMahon MP, Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth, wrote to council leaders on 7 September. In the letter to West Sussex leaders he says the Secretary of State has withdrawn the decisions made in March for four areas: Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock; Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton; Norfolk; and Suffolk. That followed what he calls “updated legal advice (for the avoidance of doubt no privilege is waived)”.

West Sussex is not in that list, for the simple reason that there was nothing to withdraw. The letter puts it plainly:

“The review, which I will lead, will look at the programme as a whole and this will include reviewing the 14 decisions made in July. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and West Sussex, where decisions have not yet been taken, will be considered as part of the review.”

On the elections, the letter is equally direct:

“While the current timetable for reorganisation envisages local elections scheduled for May 2027 being replaced by elections to the new councils, this review means elections scheduled to take place in May 2027 will go ahead to existing council boundaries.”

McMahon writes that “now is the time to pause and reflect”, that he wants to “assure myself that this process is being done correctly and robustly”, and that the pause gives the Devolution White Paper room to address the role of local government. He gives no date for the review reporting, saying only that he will “ensure that next steps are communicated early and clearly to the sector”.

Two councils are unaffected. The letter confirms the new East Surrey and West Surrey authorities go ahead, “because they are already established in law”.

What the council says

Councillor Adrian Moss, Leader of Chichester District Council, is quoted in the council’s own statement:

“We are deeply frustrated by this latest development. Together with our partners across West Sussex, we will be seeking urgent discussions with ministers to understand the rationale behind this decision, how it has been reached, and the timetable for what happens next.”

He says the council’s “immediate priority is to provide clarity and reassurance to our staff and councillors, who continue to face significant uncertainty during what has been a prolonged and unsettling period”, calls the continued lack of certainty “unacceptable”, and adds that “in the meantime, it is business as usual”.

That is a sharper tone than in March, when the same leader called the first delay “very disappointing” and said the councils would “continue to collaborate closely as we await further clarity from Government”. Six months later there is less clarity, not more.

The planning timetable still assumes the merger happens

Here is a loose end nobody has tidied up, and it matters more than it sounds.

Chichester District Council is in the opening stage of writing a new Local Plan, the document that will decide where houses and employment sites go across the district until 2045. Its published timetable carries this note:

“The dates beyond 1 April 2028 will be subject to change as Chichester District Council will be incorporated into a new unitary authority after vesting day.”

We re-read that page on 13 September 2026. It still says that. Under the published timetable, the plan is submitted for examination by 31 October 2028 and adopted by 30 April 2029, so most of the work falls after the merger date the note assumes.

There is now no agreed vesting day, no agreed unitary authority and no date for deciding either. The plan carries on regardless, and so does its deadline: the scoping consultation on the Chichester Local Plan 2045 closes at 5pm on Friday 25 September 2026. We cover what is in it, and how to respond, on our Chichester planning news page.

What it means for you

• You will vote in a Chichester District Council election in May 2027, in the ward you live in now. That is confirmed in the Minister’s letter. Before last week, those elections were expected to be replaced.
• Your bin collections, planning applications and council tax are unchanged. District services stay with the district council and county services stay with the county council until a reorganisation actually happens. Our council tax bands page and bin collection days page are unaffected.
• Nothing has been decided about which towns Chichester ends up with. If you responded to either consultation, your response has not been ruled on. It has not been thrown out either.
• There is no date to watch for. The government has not said when the review reports. The council says it is seeking urgent discussions with ministers, so the next thing to look for is the outcome of those.

The council is publishing updates on its Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation page.

Sources

• Local government reorganisation: programme review and decisions withdrawal letter to council leaders, GOV.UK, 7 September 2026, and the letter to West Sussex leaders.
• Government announces review of Local Government Reorganisation, Chichester District Council, 8 September 2026, reference 4626.
• Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation, Chichester District Council, for the business case date and the two original options.
• West Sussex Councils issue update on reorganisation decision, Chichester District Council, 25 March 2026, reference 4581.
• Modified proposals for local government reorganisation in West Sussex, GOV.UK, for the consultation dates and the seven submitting councils.
• New Local Plan timetable, Chichester District Council, for the milestone dates and the vesting day note.